Infrastructure projects are typically planned 20 or more years ahead. This makes it more important than ever that we start to adopt a disruptive lens in planning. It's time to start accounting for electric aviation if we are to capitalise on its potential economic and environmental benefits.

A scan of global electric aircraft development suggests rapid advancements are likely over the coming decade. By 2022, nine-seat planes could be doing short-haul flight (500-1,000km). Before 2030, small-to-medium 150-seat planes could be flying up to 500 kilometres. Short-range (100-250 km) VTOL aircraft could also become viable in the 2020s.

If these breakthroughs occur, we could see small, commercial, electric aircraft operating on some of Australia's busiest air routes, including Sydney-Melbourne or Brisbane, as well as opening up new, cost-effective travel routes to and from regional Australia.

Short-haul electric aircraft are particularly compelling given the inherent energy efficiency, simplicity and longevity of the battery-powered motor and drivetrain. No alternative fuel sources can deliver the same level of savings.

With conventional planes, a high-passenger, high-frequency model comes with a limiting environmental cost of burning fuel. Smaller electric aircraft can avoid the fuel costs and emissions resulting from high-frequency service models. This can lead to increased competition between airlines and between airports, further lowering costs.

While benefiting smaller airports, electric aircraft could also improve the efficiency of some larger constrained airports.

For example, Australia's largest airport, Sydney Airport, is efficient in both operations and costs. However, due to noise and pollution, physical and regulatory constraints — mainly aircraft movement caps and a curfew — can lead to congestion.

With a significant number of sub-1,000km flights originating from Sydney, low-noise, zero-emission, electric aircraft could overcome some of these constraints, increasing airport efficiency and lowering costs.

The increased availability of short-haul, affordable air travel could actively compete with other transport services, including high-speed rail. Alternatively, if the planning of high-speed rail projects takes account of electric aviation, these services could improve connectivity at regional rail hubs.

This could strengthen the business cases for high-speed rail projects by reducing the number of stops and travel times, and increasing overall network coverage.

With electric aircraft we have some time to prepare, so let's not fall behind the eight ball again — as has happened with electric cars — and start to plan ahead.

Jake Whitehead is a research fellow at the University of Queensland. Michael Kane is a research associate at Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute. This piece fist appeared on The Conversation.